Foxconn says it remains committed to Wisconsin investment project

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FILE PHOTO: The logo of Foxconn, the trading name of Hon Hai Precision Industry, is seen on top of the company's building in Taipei, Taiwan, March 30, 2018. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan’s Foxconn said on Friday it remains committed to its contract to build a display plant and tech research facilities in Wisconsin, days after the U.S. state’s governor said he wanted to renegotiate the deal.

Democratic Governor Tony Evers, who inherited a deal to give Foxconn $4 billion in tax breaks and other incentives when he took office in January, said on Wednesday he wanted renegotiation because the firm is not expected to reach its job creation goals for the state.

Foxconn’s proposed 20-million-square-foot Wisconsin campus, announced at a White House ceremony in 2017, marks the largest greenfield investment by a foreign-based company in U.S. history and was praised by President Donald Trump as proof of his ability to revive American manufacturing.

Foxconn, a major supplier to Apple Inc, has pledged to eventually create 13,000 jobs in Wisconsin, but said earlier this year it had slowed its pace of hiring.

“Foxconn remains committed to our contract,” the company said in a statement on Friday.

“Foxconn’s commitment to job creation in Wisconsin remains long term and will span over the length of the WEDC (Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation) contract and beyond,” it said, adding the construction on the LCD display manufacturing facility will commence in the summer.

To qualify for tax credits, Foxconn must meet certain hiring and capital investment goals under the current contract.

It fell short of the employment goal in 2018, hiring 178 full-time workers rather than the 260 targeted, and failed to earn a tax credit of up to $9.5 million.